Why You Need to Target Hispanics Now

The Hispanic population in the United States will grow to more than 103 million by the year 2050. That’s a nearly 250% increase over the current 40 million. Currently one in eight Americans are of Hispanic origin: 66.1% from Mexico, 14.5% from Central or South America, 9% from Puerto Rico, and 4% from Cuba.

During the same time period the Caucasian American population will decrease by 19%.

The facts don’t just pertain to individual consumers. The number of Hispanic-owned businesses is expected to grow 55%, to 3.2 million by the year 2010. That is only five years from now. During this same period, total Hispanic-owned business revenue will increase by 70%, to almost a half-trillion dollars.

Within the next five years, the purchasing power of America’s Hispanic population will reach a trillion dollars. That’s significantly larger than the GDP of Mexico. This massive income will be spent on every consumer product and service.

That’s why smart direct marketers are focusing on building a powerful presence in the Hispanic market … and they’re beginning their marketing programs now.

Many list providers (including my company, Avrick Direct) have created specifically Hispanic mailing lists to help direct marketers reach these consumers. For example, each month approximately 400,000 Hispanic new move names are identified. Almost 200,000 Hispanic new credit-card issues are brought to the mailing list marketplace every month. And there are general consumer mail response files that generate well over 100,000 Hispanic monthly hotline names.

In addition, there are also Hispanic business-to-business lists and many Hispanic database lists available from various list compilers, most offering selections including age, income and other demographic data.

Don’t think of this as just another market into which you can expand. Between the shrinking Caucasian population and the rapidly expanding Hispanic population, you must address this critical market segment. David Bancroft Avrick is president of Santa Barbara, CA-based mailing list provider Avrick Direct.